Save Me
by RukiaRae
Summary: AU Richard transfers schools and goes undercover to see if people actually like him without Bruce's wealth...will people actually care if he was a nobody? Richard intends to find out...AU eventually slight rae/rob rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

**Mkay this popped into my head and I couldn't let it be...its a shorter fic so it should be done soon...sorry for all of the recent stories lately but I hope you like them!**

**Chapter 1  
**

Richard decided to transfer schools. He liked Gotham High well enough, especially since he was the son, well adoptive son (but that really didn't matter), of Bruce Wayne, the richest man alive. And he had the looks to complement his wealth. Because he had it all, he never had a shortage of friends or popularity.

Not that Richard saw his friends this way. Sure, he wasn't naïve enough to believe that people wanted to get to know him for any other reason than for his fame and money. But he always thought that people eventually liked him for, well, him.

Until Courtney (A/N: Blackfire) made her snide comment. She had been obviously flirting with him for a few months, but he always brushed her off and made excuses. It wasn't that she was ugly, quite the opposite, she was attractive. She had long, dark hair and pretty brown eyes and the height of a model. He just didn't want to date her because she was cruel. She treated everyone like crap unless she wanted something from them, at which point she was sickly sweet as sugar. In short, he didn't trust her. At all.

She eventually picked up on the fact that he wasn't interested and turned sour real fast. She would often try to trip him or make comments with clear implications about him in them. Sometimes, he suspected when it was _that _time of the month for her and she was especially cranky, she would make her comments to his face.

One of these comments bothered him more than it should. He remembered vividly the day she approached him, alone of course (as was often the case when she wanted to insult him directly). After they had thrown at each other some of the worst insults she sent him a cold glare. She smirked at him saying in an ominous whisper, "Your friends only continue to hang out with you for your money. Don't think for a second that if you lost it all that any of them would hang around you anymore." She then gave one of her signature hair flips before disappearing into the crowd.

He hadn't intended on giving it a second thought, but the thought snaked its way into his thoughts. _What if she was right? _That idea unsettled him. So he decided to put her theory to the test. Several days later he begged his father, Bruce, to announce that the family was taking an extended vacation and that Richard would be privately tutored in the meantime. He persuaded Bruce that switching schools, to Jump High which was only an extra 15 minutes away, and going there anonymously would be a good thing. After some thought, Bruce finally agreed.

So here he was, his first day of Jump high as John Gray. His actual name was Richard John Grayson so he figured he'd make his alias something that was familiar to him and something that he was likely to respond to when called. So John Gray he was.

He had also undergone a drastic make over, just to be sure. He had his long ebony hair cut. He now had spiky, short black hair, all thanks to his trusty hairgel. Richard Grayson always wore shades, so John, reluctantly, did not. He did, however, invest in some colored contacts. While they didn't completely cover up the light blue color of his eyes, they did muddle the color with hues of green. _Enough to throw everyone off, I hope. _He also invested in a pair of glasses, just to be safe. Of course, the glasses had no prescription (and neither did his contacts) as he already had perfect vision. So far his morning passed without incident and no one recognized him.

He tried to blend in. He dressed in a red t-shirt and faded jeans with sneakers. He didn't want to appear too nerdy with his glasses, but he didn't want to be popular again at this school because of his looks. So there he sat, a nothing, a nobody, a nonentity. People looked him over and didn't pay him much mind in the halls. As Richard navigated his way through the halls, he accidentally bumped into this blonde chick. She looked to be popular at this school, even if her attire was all pink. She was the usual blonde bitch, however, and glared at him.

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" She sneered loudly, getting approval from her friends. Richard just mumbled an apology before quickly leaving to his classes.

Richard eventually found the classroom for his first period class and sat at a desk near the back. Early. A few other kids were there, but they were sleeping at their desks. _God this sucks. _But Richard decided to pretend to be sleeping. After all, it was better than sitting there twiddling his thumbs and looking overeager.

The day passed by much the same way. No one addressed him, and when he tried to talk to people, it was either snide remarks or distracted "mhmm"s that he received. A few kids stared conversations with him, but it was always stupid small talk that lasted for about 5 minutes. Then they'd return to their friends and he'd be alone. Again.

_As much as I hate to admit it, maybe Courtney was right…_

At lunch he looked for a table that seemed remotely open to new people, and well, nothing. Some people even moved their trays or bags into the free spots when they saw Richard approach. He ate alone outside. Normally, he didn't mind being alone, but this aloneness felt more like he was being shunned than him choosing to be alone. He sighed, it was going to be a long day.

The rest of the week passed in much of the same way, each day Richard became more and more depressed about it, wishing that he hadn't decided to do this in the first place. At the end of the day on Friday, _the last day of the week, thank god, _Richard had removed the contents of his locker. He took out all of his books, which didn't seem like much when he had bought them, but now he knew otherwise.

Just as he was halfway to his bus, the blonde bitch (for lack of knowing her name) stomped up to him, backed by her crew. The guy in the front, with the spider tattoo on his arm, was clearly her boyfriend; Richard could tell by the way he was practically groping her.

"Let's show him who's boss, baby," she coddled.

He then knocked Richards books from his hands into the mud before aiming a rather sloppy punch to his stomach. Staggering back, Richard fell into the mud with his books. _What did I do to deserve this? _He thought bitterly. Normally, Richard would've fought back as he had several years of martial arts training, but he just laid in the grass beside his scattered books. That's when he saw the guy getting ready to beat the crap outta him more. Richard groaned and sat up, preparing to counter the blow or twist the guy's leg. But that changed when he heard the girl intervene.

He remembered seeing her in some of his classes, she was quiet and usually sat in the back. Hearing her intervene shocked him; she would be the last person he'd think of to intervene in anything. He got the impression that she didn't like when attention was directed at her, despite her taste in clothing. Like today, she was typically clad in some sort of gothic ensemble.

"Leave him alone!" She yelled, directing her fury at the blonde girl.

And the girl actually looked terrified, even if her boyfriend didn't. Still, the group decided to leave at the girl's warning.

"You okay?" She asked, a small, tense smile on her lips.

He just nodded.

To his surprise, she began picking up some of his books. When she didn't see him move, she said, "Don't let Kitty- well her name's Katherine, but everyone calls her Kitty- get you down. She's a bitch to everyone, honestly."

"So how come she left without putting up a fight?" he asked.

The girl suddenly looked sheepish.

"Uh, welll….let's just say I gave her a black eye and a piece of my mind a few months ago…heh," then upon seeing the look on Richard's face, she quickly added, "I'm not usually that violent, I swear, but that girl…she just pisses me off."

The last part she said with such hatred that even Richard was intimidated. But she didn't seem to notice.

"Good God, are you bringing home your entire locker with you?" she asked sarcastically as she rounded up the rest of his books.

Considering that he was, all he could do was give an embarrassed laugh.

"Hm, well it looks like you've missed the bus….do you need a ride home?"

He nodded. He was beginning to like this girl, even if she was somewhat of a pariah. She then helped him up and gave him half of the books she had picked up, the other half she carried.

He followed her to her car. It was a very nondescript car; was a small, slightly old, and –what a shocker-black. Yet it suited her, and it was giving his ass a ride home.

While driving out of the school, out of the blue she yelled, "SHIT."

"What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled as to why she was so worked up.

"I forgot, I'm supposed to meet Gar and Tara afterschool today. I'm already about 20 minutes late." She sighed.

He felt bad for holding her up and was about to suggest that he could walk home, but then she began to speak.

"Would you mind coming with? It won't be that long, I promise…and they go to our school, maybe they'll be in some of your classes too."

He enthusiastically agreed to go, anything so that he'd have some social group to belong to come next Monday.

She then sped off to the café they were meeting at. Throughout the incredibly short drive, Richard looked at the girl sitting next to him. She had long violet hair and startling eyes to match. She had milky pale skin and, all in all, reminded him of the night embodied in a person. Secretive, serene, quiet, dark, mysterious, and possibly dangerous. But still beautiful.

In a miraculous 5 minutes, and several ignored red lights later, they arrived. Once inside, Richard recognized the red-haired girl as one of the people who had attempted to talk to him.

"Kori? Your're here too?" the gothic girl asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes, friend. Apparently, friends Tara and Gar have important news." Richard had forgotten that she had a thick foreign accent and used…strange…words, for lack of a better term.

"Hey guys, I'd like you all to meet…uh," the gothic girl then faltered, realizing that she hadn't actually known what his name was.

"I'm John," Richard supplied, "But my friends at my other school called me Robin, so you can call me that if you'd prefer."

So this wasn't actually true, it was a family nickname. But Richard knew he had a greater chance of responding to Robin than John, and he didn't want to sound pathetic by saying it was a family nickname, so he embellished the name a bit.

The dark girl nodded. "We all actually have nicknames too that are a bit unrelated to our real names, like you. So don't worry," she assured him.

She then continued, introducing everyone at the table, "That's Kori Anders, an exchange student from France but we usually just call her Star. The short guy with the blonde and green hair is Garfield, we just call him Gar, Beast Boy, BB, or (my personal favorite) Grass Stain." At this, Gar made a face, and yelled, "I'm NOT SHORT!" earning laughs from Kori and smiles from the other 2 girls.

"The girl with the blonde hair and the only one willing to put up with Gar's jokes is Tara. She really doesn't have a nickname….And…did I ever tell you my name?" she paused before answering her own question, "No, I suppose I didn't, did I? I'm Rachel, Raven to my friends. And for the record, Raven is the only nickname I'll respond to. No 'Rae's, 'Ravie's, 'Rach's, or anything else you can think of. Got it?"

She seemed so pissed off about the nicknames that all he could do was nod.

"Good," she affirmed.

"So now are you going to tell us what this is about?" Raven asked in a bored tone.

"Nope," answered BB, "Not until Cy, Bee, and Jinx get here."

Raven grumbled. Ten minutes later, in walked the –extremely late- trio, not that Raven could say much about it considering she was late herself.

"Heyyy, so u-uh we kinda forgot," said the large, burly man nervously.

Raven smiled, a sight that Richard already knew was rare for her, before confessing that she too had forgotten.

"I text you guys at lunch and you STILL don't remember after a few hours?" whined BB.

"When have you ever remembered something after 5 minutes?" drawled Raven, earning laughs from everyone and a pout from BB.

"So who's this?" asked the one girl who hadn't spoken yet. She was kinda like Raven, though she had bright cotton-candy pink colored hair and brown eyes.

"This is John, nicknamed Robin," answered Raven, "Robin this is Jessica but we call her Jinx. The big guy is Victor, otherwise known as Vic, Cyborg, or Cy. Next to him is his girlfriend, Karen but we call her Bumblebee or Bee for short."

Beast Boy stood up and was about to start talking when Raven asked, "Aren't you going to wait for Roy and Garth?"

"Nah, they couldn't make it. Speedy's got archery practice and Aqualad has a swim meet," answered BB.

"Oh," was all Raven said.

Richard noticed the way that she had addressed him as Robin instead of John earlier, but referred to 'Speedy' and 'Aqualad' as Roy and Garth. He almost felt like she considered him as a good friend already to be using his nickname.

"Okay guys, you wanna hear what I had to tell you?" asked Beast Boy. In response, the group quieted down and looked at the scrawny boy.

After a long, dramatic pause he announced, "Tara and I are going out!"

"That's why you had us gather here?" inquired Raven dully.

"Yea man! I thought y'all were already goin' out," Cy grumbled.

"Well, now we are," huffed BB.

With a group of people to keep the conversation going, there wasn't any awkward silences after the announcement. They moved seamlessly from topic to topic. In the hour they spent sipping lattes, or in Raven's case green tea, he had learned a lot about them.

Like Cy was the quarterback of the football team and Bee was a cheerleader. Despite being the most normal of the bunch, they still liked hanging out in this group. Robin could tell. After all, they could choose to be more popular and hang out with the other jocks but they spent their time here. Beast boy, he learned, was a vegetarian and an avid animal rights activist. Tara was also vegetarian and liked spontaneity. Beast Boy, he sensed was also the comedian of the group, or at least tried to be.

Kori was always chipper and extremely nice, despite some of her misunderstandings of the English language. Raven was usually quiet and had a very sarcastic and bitter sense of humor, which was funny in its own way. Jinx was also somewhat sarcastic, but unlike Raven, she had Star's optimism to level it out.

All-in- all, Robin liked the group and felt accepted. While he couldn't often join the conversation and needed several backstories to understand things, he still felt like he…belonged.

**Please, please, please review if you liked it! Also, please vote on my poll on my profile about the next rae/rob fic cuz I can't decide...**

**Enjoy!**

**~RukiaRae**

**P.S. *whines* Pleeeeaaasseeee review!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you guys like this chapter! Sorry if its a bit short...The plot will pick up within the next few chapters :)**

**Chapter 3**

That next Monday, Richard was eager to get to school. Ever since his introduction intothe group that Friday after school, he felt like he had friends. And one of them even knew his secret….

***Flashback***

_As the group was clearing out of the café, Richard was startled to hear Raven speaking to him._

_"Where do you live?" she asked._

_All that came to Richard's mind was 'shit'. She would instantly know if she pulled up to his mansion that he was Richard Grayson. Or, considering that she didn't pay much attention to the media, she would at least know that his family was loaded. And he figured that was something she wouldn't approve of._

_It hadn't dawned on Richard yet why he really cared about her approval. Still, letting her drive him home probably meant the end of their incredibly short friendship._

_He sighed, "I live off of Jefferson Street."_

_Then fate, or something like it, intervened. He could see her frown at the street name and guessed that he lived far away from her, after all he actually lived in the 'suburbs' of Gotham City. That's when he heard Vic offer to drive him home instead. _

_Vic lived much closer than Raven did. Relieved, Richard accepted the offer. They transferred his things from Raven's car to Vic's and then took off for home. When they reached Jefferson St., Richard told Vic to turn onto Stanley Ln. _

_His house was at the end of the street where it dead-ended. Behind a large, fancy, iron gate was a long driveway that leaded to his house. It was flanked by trees on each side. The driveway was the only thing visible before his house, the rest was just vast hills of green grass. The house was just as impressive as the drive in, it was huge._

_So Richard told Vic the wrong house to drop him off at, he figured he would pretend to walk inside and then phone Alfred to come and get him. But Vic called the bluff._

_"That's the house?" he asked in disbelief._

_"Yep," answered Richard, eager to get out of the car._

_"Do you have any brothers?" he then proceeded to ask Richard._

_Richard felt like it was an interrogation, but answered honestly anyway, "No, I don't. Why?"_

_Vic then smiled a knowing smile, "Because Tim from our school goes there. And unless he's your brother, that ain't your house."_

_Richard sighed. He then directed Vic to his actual house. Vic was gaping the entire drive up._

_"You live here?" he kept asking in shock._

_Once inside, which was no less impressive, he gave Vic a tour of his house. And told him everything. Vic agreed to keep the secret, but he made Richard swear to tell them soon. By the end of the month, to be exact._

_But he was relived for the extra time. _

**End Flashback***

That was why Vic agreed to give Richard a ride to and from school until he could get a parking space. So Richard was waiting for Vic to get him. Vic was given authorization to enter the property whenever, considering he was Richard's best friend at this point.

Richard rushed to his friends silver and blue "T-Car." It looked to be a toyota, but with all of the modifications Vic added, he couldn't tell. It looked like a car straight from Pimp My Ride, except for speakers and an obnoxious television. Thought it still had a loud sound system.

Richard soon found out that Vic was very protective over his car. He could barely move without getting a threat from Vic. Not that he didn't know this from Friday, but Vic seemed to be protective with a new vigor.

"Did something happen to your car?" Richard asked, wanting to know the source of his friend's threats.

Pretty soon, Vic launched into a story about how someone crashed into his "beautiful baby" on Saturday and how devastating it was for him to see her wrecked like that.

_At least there's an explanation for his increase in threats _thought Richard. It was nice to know that his friend wasn't psychotic, or at least not completely.

* * *

When they arrived at the school, Vic showed Richard where the group usually hung out during the mornings and during lunch. The whole group was gathered around a circular lunch table at the corner of the cafeteria, talking animatedly about their weekends. Richard was quickly introduced to Roy and Garth.

Roy Harper, also known as Speedy, had bright red hair like Kori. He was around Richard's height and had green eyes. He talked fast and was known to flirt with many girls.

Garth was quite the opposite, he had dark hair and dark brown eyes. He seemed quiet and reserved, despite his charismatic appearance. He actually reminded Richard of…

_Wait, where is Raven? _wondered Richard.

"She's probably in the library, she practically lives there," said Vic, answering Richard's unasked question.

Richard shot Vic a look that expressed his thanks before heading to the library. It wasn't until he was halfway there that he wondered why he was going there. It wasn't like she headed to the library to socialize. He would probably be intruding on her reading. Still, he couldn't help but _want _to go there to see her.

* * *

Raven looked up to see Robin enter the library. Not that he-or anyone else, for that matter- wasn't allowed there, but she didn't think he was there to read. _So why is he here? _She wondered.

When he saw her, he grinned- yes, a big million watt smile- and waved at her before running over. Normally she would find such behavior disturbing, desperate even but not with him. It just seemed like his natural reaction when seeing her, a thought that Raven actually found…pleasant.

So against all odds and traditions, she smiled back.

"Hey, you're smiling," he remarked. This observation seemed to make him smile more, if that was possible.

"Your happiness really is like the plague," she drawled, "it's sickening and yet highly contagious."

He chuckled.

Just as Raven was about to ask how the rest of his weekend went, the school bell rang announcing 5 minutes until the start of first period. So both went their separate ways to their first class, happier than usual.

* * *

All in all, Richard found he had a much more pleasant day. He was accepted by his friends and found that he now knew someone in each of his classes, a comforting thought.

But there was still the problem of telling them his secret….

How would he do that? Would they be upset that he lied? _Chances are yes, though Vic took it fairly well…._

These thoughts plagued his mind most of the morning. He was thinking of ways to tell them, who to tell first, who would be the most understanding, etc.

So it came as no surprise when at lunchtime Richard realized he hadn't learned anything all day.

Sighing, Richard grabbed a tray stepped in line to get his meal. While walking past several meal options, he noted how crappy the food here was. At Gotham High everyone complained about the food, but compared to this food it looked like fine dining. So he grabbed the most edible things there, a turkey sandwich and a small paper carton of nachos with melted cheese. He then bought a large thing of chocolate milk and a tray with watermelon slices.

Yes, it was a lot of food, but he was starving since he had missed breakfast. So he took his food and found where his friends were eating and joined them. He happened to notice that Raven was still absent from the group, something that he found odd. Just on Friday based off their interaction at the café, he would've thought that she was the 'leader' of the group. After all, when she brought him into the group, no one had questioned her why.

And yet she was still nowhere to be found. Then Richard remembered his friend's words from the morning _She's in the library. She practically lives there._

He was grateful that Vic had added that last part, it saved him the trouble of having to ask where she was. Again.

_Does Raven even eat lunch? _wondered Richard. Afterall, it was common knowledge that food wasn't allowed in the library.

Richard quickly ate half of his lunch, leaving the sandwich and some of the watermelon pieces uneaten.

"I'll be right back guys," He announced before leaving. Only Vic noticed Richard was leaving with all of his things with him. Vic smiled a knowing smile before returning to the group conversation.

Richard had hidden the food in his backpack and was grateful that the sandwich came wrapped and the watermelon tray had a secure lid. He made his way to the library to find her. _Bingo _he thought when he spotted her in a chair, reading.

* * *

"Hey, aren't you hungry?" he asked as he approached her.

She glanced up from her book briefly before responding, "No."

"Oh," he said inarticulately.

She looked at him curiously, knowing he was going to say something else. Richard then continued, "I just brought you some food is all."

Raven gave a small smile at the nervousness in his voice before asking what he had brought. After he told her about the turkey sandwich and the watermelon, she got up and checked the book she was reading out from the front desk. She then walked with him out to one of the benches in the hallway before sitting down.

"You're allowed to eat in the hallways here?" asked Richard. Even in his old school, which was nicer than this one, he wasn't (theoretically) allowed to do that.

"Not really, no," she replied, "Though most teachers don't really care if you do or not. The one person to look out for is Ms. Richards, she's very hard to miss, she dresses as though it's still the 70's."

He chuckled at the description.

"Is she really that bad?" He then asked, wondering how avidly he should be avoiding her.

"No, more just a pain really. As long as you're polite to her you should be fine. And considering you're new here you can play that card a few times, though you'll likely have to hear a list of the rules before she'll let you go. So I would just avoid her."

Raven then began to nibble away at the sandwich and fruit. "Did you, by any chance, bring something to drink?" she then asked, a few minutes later.

Of course, he hadn't.

"Here, I'll get you a bottled water from the vending machine," he offered.

Raven was about to say that was unnecessary, but he was already out of earshot. Well unless she yelled, which she wasn't going to look like a lunatic to prevent him from spending $1.50 on water.

She leaned her head back against the creamy school walls and decided to take the few precious moments and think. Or so she thought until Robin showed up with the water 20 seconds later.

"Thank-you," She mumbled before taking a swig of the bottle's contents.

As she was finishing up her food, Robin asked out of the blue, "So how come you don't eat in the cafeteria with everyone else?"

Raven contemplated the question for a moment. It was true that she did love her friends dearly, but they could sometimes be a bit too much.

"It's too noisy," she finally said. And while she could tell Robin sensed that it wasn't the full truth, he didn't press her for more of an answer, a fact that she appreciated.

Robin was the one friend that she had who had yet to get on her nerves, and although she hadn't known him for long, she still felt comfortable around him. Like he could understand her, perhaps even better than some of her other friends.

She cocked her head to the side and was about to ask why he brought her lunch and stayed with her, but then the bell rang again. She was having terrible timing with the school bells these days. Raven quickly stuffed the water bottle in her black messenger bag and grabbed her trash. Richard then stood up and walked with her to throw away her trash. Then both stumbled through the crowds to get to their 6th period literature class.

All the while, both were lost deep in thought about the other. _  
_

* * *

**Again, sorry that its not the best chapter...heh...**

**Anyway...reviews are greatly appreciated! Also if you all have time, go to my profile page and vote on my next big rae/rob story! **

**Thanks!**

**~RukiaRae  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Omili- Don't worry, I really don't like rob/star either, so to you and everyone reading this, there will be NO rob/star romance (I may lose some readers over this, but oh well)….And yes there will be some conflict and jealousy…also I never thought of making Melvin, Timmy, and Teether Raven's siblings for a story, I'm actually going do that (but yea, there will be more family interactions in this chapter too)…Thanks for the awesome reviews! :)**

**Time for the long anticipated...**

**...Chapter 3!  
**

She sat in her literature class thinking about lunch. It was a meal that she usually skipped out on, spending the time in the library. She played it off as she loved to read, which most people didn't question, but in reality, she knew that her family couldn't afford it.

Her mother, Arella, was almost always at work and was trying to support four children and herself. Although Arella tried to hide their financial problems, Raven was too old now not to know. So, despite her mother's insistence that they were fine, Raven cut back on her spending. She rarely hung out with friends, the café on Friday being an obvious exception.

Normally, she would've gotten a job to help her mother. However, Melvin, her younger sister, was too young to take much care of her brothers, Timmy and Teether. She was barely 7 years old, and in direct contrast to Raven's appearance, had short mousy brown hair (often worn in pig tails), shining blue eyes, a face cluttered with brown freckles, and pinkish skin. _She takes after her father _thought Raven.

Raven never knew her father, he left and abandoned the family when Raven was three. Then Arella settled with Tyler. All was well, until he left too, though he always returned. He'd go away for some time and then return for a few months, claiming he'd settle and was done gallivanting off. Arella was the only one who now continued to believe the lie. For those months when Tyler _was _back, the family would be doing alright, but then he'd leave again. All she knew of _her_ biological father was that his name was Trigon Roth. Raven didn't really want to meet him- _the bastard _she thought, bitter that he abandoned the family, abandoned _her_.

Raven's younger siblings, Timmy and Teether, resembled more of Melvin than Raven. When out, people would always be able to guess that Melvin, Timmy, and Teether were related, however, they were often surprised to find out that Raven was related too, even if it was just that she was their half-sister. The only thing that kept Raven aware that she wasn't adopted was her striking resemblance to her mother. Her mother had the same petite features and milky pale skin. She also suffered from the same rare discoloration disorder- her hair and eyes were also a startling violet. Well, her hair was now black thanks to cheap hair dye.

Timmy was soon-to-be 3 years old and had golden hair like Melvin did when she was his age. He was short and pudgy, and always carried around Bankey, his azure blanket. He too had brown hair, but it was tinted with red. His eyes were the same sapphires as Melvin's. Teether, about 6 months old, had short golden hair and his eyes appeared to remain a clear blue.

Raven was no babysitter, but Melvin could always tell what her brothers needed and would tell Raven. After a while, Raven could usually tell, but Melvin never had to guess, she just _knew. _

Raven was mostly there to cook for them and make sure they were looked after, getting their homework done and getting enough food. The only indulgence she had bought was a car, after Tyler was home for about 6 months and she had saved up enough money for the beat-up old car. She was glad that it ran smoothly, she hadn't had to take it in for service yet.

Raven always made sure that they had lunch money. Sometimes there would be enough for her to get some too, but she found that it was difficult to eat lunch for 3 days only to have to go without after. So she eventually just fasted through lunch everyday.

And no one had thought to question it. Or bring food. _No one, except Robin. _She regarded him curiously. He really was nice and thoughtful. Reason told her to keep him away from her, after all, most people were much better off than she was. And poverty made them uncomfortable. And yet, part of her argued, maybe he would understand best.

After all, she'd only known him a short time and he already understood and interacted with her as if he'd known her for years. She contemplated telling him, or showing him, but dismissed the idea for now. She was always a good judge of character, but she decided to wait a bit before telling him.

* * *

At the end of the day, she drove home. All of her siblings were there already, as they rode the bus home. Teether was at the daycare, but he always got a ride home with a family friend. Melvin and Timmy were always there to pick up the infant.

Raven made her way to the kitchen and raided the cabinets for food to turn into a suitable dinner. She made soup and grilled cheeses for Melvin and Timmy, and mashed up some bananas and other fruits to feed Teether.

She then cleared the plates after dinner and forced them all to stay at the table in the kitchen to do homework. She even abided by her own rule and worked with them. Teether was still in his high chair, but he was given toys to gnaw at.

Rachel sighed. "Hey guys, I have to run to the library to type something up, will you be okay alone for a bit?"

"Yeah, give us some credit," replied Melivn with a laugh.

Raven laughed too and kissed each of them on the top of the head before heading out to the library.

* * *

Once there, she got her essay done after about an hour of focused typing.

"Are you always so angry?" asked one of the library staff.

He had light blonde hair and lovely, storm gray eyes. Raven chuckled at the puzzled expression on his face.

"I'm not angry, I'm determined," she replied.

"I see," he replied formally, "Well, you should smile more. You look prettier when you do."

Raven felt her face heat up.

She read his name tag, _Malcolm Nore._

He saw her glance at the tag, "Well, my dear lady, it seems you know my name. Might I know yours?"

She chuckled, "You have the oddest way of speaking. Rachel, though you can call me Raven, everyone else does."

He chuckled, "What a lovely name. And people have commented on my speech before- so no points for originality there." He then winked at her and she found herself laughing.

"I know that I don't really know you, despite having seen you around at school," he began nervously, "But, I really like you. Would you like to go out sometime?"

Raven felt her face heat up again, she cursed her emotions for giving her away.

"S-sure." She was genuinely surprised that he asked, most people were put off by her purple hair and general appearance. She was sure her attitude didn't help much.

"How about Friday? At six?" he politely asked.

"Okay, sure. Where would you like to meet?" she asked, purposefully insinuating that he wasn't picking her up.

He sensed there was some implications with what she said, but he didn't force the issue. _He's like Robin. _

"How about the teahouse down the street from here?"

"Sure, sounds great," she replied, actually enthusiastic, "I love tea."

He smiled a warm smile, "See you then, Raven."

She felt giddy after he left. And it didn't help that he caught her staring at him a few times after the encounter. She quickly printed her essay and left, she didn't want to risk looking like a stalker or something.

When she got home her mom was there now too. She was heating leftovers and had a beer in her other hand. Her mother sometimes wasn't good with coping and turned to alcohol to ease her suffering. She only got drunk occasionally, but when she did, Raven found herself holding back her mother's inky black hair as she puked. It wasn't a fun job, and the bathroom reeked after. She often had to spray perfume throughout the bathroom to make it smell better than vomit and alcohol.

Thankfully, after a few episodes of that her mother learned how to moderate what she drank. By now her siblings were in their rooms, and she silently thanked her mother for _not _drinking around her siblings.

Raven went up to her room, feeling better than usual. She, the reclusive goth, had a date. She was excited to share the news with Jinx too, unlike with Gar and Tara, this was unexpected.

* * *

Richard arrived home later that evening, waiting for Vic to finish with football. It was then that he realized, if Vic was his ticket home, he needed to find something to occupy himself afterschool.

He'd have to try out for _something._

Today, luckily, was the tryouts for the fall play. He just sat in the back and observed, he wasn't good at acting and had no intention of making this his activity. Still, he figured there would be no harm in watching.

He saw the head of the drama department sitting at a fold out table in front of the enormous stage. He then saw this one guy with blonde hair speak with her quietly before she opened the tryouts. She nodded and his face looked relieved.

"Alright, everyone, calm down. I have scripts at this desk, I will assign each of you a portion to act, you will get 5 minutes to practice. Then, you will come to the stage and act it out to the best of your ability. Malcolm Nore, you may go first since you have to get to work."

Richard couldn't hear what page she assigned him, but he took the moment to survey the guy. He seemed arrogant and self-assured. He probably was the lead for several plays or something. But Richard didn't like this guy for some reason. _He seems like a prick._

Richard watched the monologue he delivered, and it was great. Richard got the feeling that this guy was good at acting, both on and off the stage.

But Richard soon found out where the guy's arrogance came from; after all of the students tried out, Malcolm's was still the best. Richard's phone began to vibrate, signaling Vic's practice was over. Richard silently left the auditorium and met Vic in the parking lot.

When he arrived home, he wasn't surprised to find out that Bruce was still at the office. Bruce was known to work excessively and was rarely home, especially now that Richard was grown up. Richard sighed and heated up the dinner that Alfred had prepared. There were 2 plates in the refrigerator, one labeled for him, the other for Bruce. Richard heated up his plate and ate in silence at the long, elegant dinner table.

It had enough seats to hold 24 guests, yet it rarely held food for more than one at a time. Richard couldn't recall the last time he had eaten dinner with Bruce on a regular basis, Bruce seemed to only be there for dinner parties. Sometimes Alfred would notice Richard's disappointment or loneliness and would sit with him as he ate, something he was grateful for.

Richard then trekked up to his room and turned on his flat screen television while he stretched across his fluffy, king-sized bed. He would get to his homework later. He had always been good at procrastinating.

* * *

Raven decided she would use her precious minutes and call Jinx. She flipped open her old cell phone and called her friend.

_'Hey, what's up?' _Jinx answered, surprised. Raven hardly called anyone.

"Um, well…I was at the library (she could almost see Jinx's eyeroll) and I met this guy…"

_'Was he hot?'_

Raven sighed. Leave it to Jinx to ask that.

"He was cute, I guess," she could hear Jinx's little squeal on the other line, "But, um, he asked me out…."

There was a long silence.

"Like, on a date," added Raven, awkwardly.

_'I know what going out means'_ snorted Jinx. Raven laughed.

Then Jinx exploded like Raven had anticipated.

_'Wow, this is great! Do you know what you're going to wear? Please pick something other than black!...Ooh how'd he ask?'_

Raven chuckled and recounted the story.

_'Yeah, he's definitely your type of guy' _remarked Jinx.

"Hey, Jinx, I gotta go, but we can talk tomorrow, okay?"

_'Okay. But don't even think about going to the library in the morning or I will. Find. You.' _

Raven laughed, "Bye, Jinx."

She flipped her phone shut and looked down to see _16:44 _flashing at her. _Wow, I only used 17 minutes? Not bad. _

Raven sat at her wobbly desk and tried to do more homework, but she found her thoughts wandering to Malcolm and her date. It wasn't like the homework was riveting enough to keep her attention…_What should I wear? _

Strangely, she found herself comparing him to Robin. It was then that she decided that no more homework was going to be completed tonight and that she was _definitely_ sleep deprived to think of Robin as a potential person to date when she already had one.

So she crawled in bed and allowed sleep to take over.

* * *

The next day, Richard was surprised when he spotted Raven's lilac hair among the group of her friends.

Jinx, of course, had called several of her friends in the group. And those she didn't call were soon informed by those she _did _call. So Raven was busy getting grilled, and persuading Vic that he didn't need to meet the guy yet.

Richard could tell she was uncomfortable with the attention, but he missed half of the conversation and was completely lost. He knew he'd be adding to her discomfort, but he had to ask, "What's going on?"

"_Oh my gosh," _squealed Kori, "Friend Raven is doing the going out this Friday with a guy!"

Richard just looked quizzically at Raven, who monotonously informed him, "It's not a big deal, honestly. I was at the library and he just asked to hang out at the teahouse."

He couldn't help but feel _something- _he couldn't define it, but he knew that he hated the idea that she was going out on Friday.

"Oh, please, it's a big deal and you know it," stated Jinx, laughing at the way Raven's face heated up, "See? You're blushing!"

Jinx then turned to Robin, oblivious to his confusion with regards to Raven, told him, "Yea, apparently this Malcolm guy is perfect for her too, he _lives _at the library too and speaks using formal words."

Raven glared at Jinx for this comment.

Richard just felt like he was punched in the stomach.

"This wouldn't happen to be Malcolm Nore, would it?" he asked, he had to know.

At this, Raven looked at him, "Yeah, why? Do you know him?"

"I've seen him around," replied Richard, "Hey, guys well I've got to go print something, I guess I'll see you around later."

He saw the apologetic look Vic shot him before he left. Richard, of course, didn't have to print anything, but he was dreading talking to Raven now. _I have to tell her_ he thought.

* * *

At lunchtime, Richard did the same thing and bought Raven lunch, eating his with her on the bench this time.

They were talking about several random things and getting along quite well. _Now or never _thought Richard.

"So you _actually _like Malcolm?" he asked, changing the topic.

She looked at him, narrowing her eyes, trying to see what he was getting at, "He seemed nice enough. Why _don't _you like him?"

"When did I ever say I don't?" he countered.

"I can just tell," she responded, "You never answered my question."

"Look, I just don't like him, okay? He seems arrogant... and like he'd be a good liar, like he can't be trusted," stated Richard. He was aware that this was all based on his perceptions of the guy and not evidence, a fact Raven was quick to point out.

"Look, I'm going to give him a chance, okay?" she snapped, defensively, "Can we please drop this?"

"Um, yea, okay," replied Richard.

They ate the rest of their lunch in silence, a silent wedge driven between them.

Richard knew he should trust her, but he _really _didn't like this Malcolm guy.

And the fact that he left a rose sticking out of her locker at the end of the day wasn't helping to lift his spirits on the matter at all.

The rest of the week, when he spoke with Raven, he avoided talking about Malcolm. He had already told her what he thought, he figured there was no point in rubbing it all in and making her even more distant.

He still brought her lunch every day, despite the skirmish, and still spoke to Raven often. Sometimes she would see Malcolm in the halls and wave shyly; Richard always felt a bit of a pang whenever this happened, though she seemed oblivious considering her thoughts were occupied.

The Malcolm situation also complicated his lie. He just couldn't tell her that he had been lying to her after the fight about Malcolm. She was already acting different around him and he was fairly sure that if he mentioned the lie now that she'd completely ignore him. And possibly accuse him of being the way that he'd described Malcolm before.

He sighed, he had a _lot _to work out.

_

* * *

_**Hope you all liked this chapter! The plot thickens...**

**Also, my poll for my next rae/rob is probably going to stay on my profile for about another week, so please please vote (unless you already have, in which case, thank you!)! :)**

**Thanks!**

**~RukiaRae**

**P.S. Please review! It's only a fraction of the time spent on writing the chapter! :P But, really, please review... :)  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, here it is, the next chapter! :)**

**Chapter 4!**

He sighed, running his hand through his spiky black hair. It had been about a week and a half now and Rachel was falling more for Malcolm. He still hadn't found the perfect way to tell his friends about his identity and he could tell that his situation was getting worse, fast. And, oh yeah, Rachel was falling more for Malcolm. Which sucked.

He knew he shouldn't feel nearly this possessive over a girl he'd recently just met, but he really couldn't help it. He continued to tell himself that his possessiveness was only triggered by his hatred of Malcolm, and not for any other reason. After all, it was only natural that he'd feel slighted after she started ditching their lunch sessions, right? Last week, after a few days of going through the same routine, Richard had showed up to the library again with lunch for his gothic friend. And she wasn't there. He hadn't seen her in the morning either, so he figured she was absent that day from illness or something. Until 6th period English, when he saw Malcolm walk with her to the classroom and kiss her on the cheek as she sauntered in (late) to class. Needless to say, he wasn't happy. She could've at least told him in advance, or something.

The next week passed in much of the same fashion, Raven skipped on several of the outings with her friends claiming she was "busy." He rarely spoke much to her anymore since she spent all of her free time during the day with Malcolm. He still saw her in their 6th period literature class and their 7th period art class, but there are never any quality conversations that occur in a classroom under the watchful gaze of the teacher. Sadly, his conversations with Raven were no exception to this rule.

He found himself more and more depressed- not anywhere near suicidal, but he once again found himself loathing to go to school. He wasn't looking forward to seeing her trail Malcolm like a  
puppy. He knew he should be happy for her that she had found someone who liked her and all, but he just wished that she hadn't dropped her friends (him) for this other guy.

_If _Richard was being honest with himself, which he rarely was anymore (nothing good came of it), he would acknowledge that it stung the way she had left him for Malcolm. Part of his mind knew it was something else that was causing the sting, the idea occasionally (well a bit more often than that) gnawed it's way to the surface of his memory, but whenever these thoughts surfaced, Richard banished them back the deep recesses of his mind. He already had enough problems to deal with.

Like telling them his identity.

* * *

Rachel was happy. She had someone who finally understood her. Malcolm, she was pleased to recall, hadn't reacted at all to her situation at home, and instead, had helped her babysit her  
siblings on more than one occasion. He was sweet and polite, and around him, Rachel felt like she could completely open up. There was just one problem: Malcolm was moving at the end of the  
month. That meant that she only had about another week with him. And it killed her. So, as ashamed as she was to admit it, she had spent nearly every waking hour with him, trying to  
savor the feeling of acceptance that radiated from him when he was around her. She liked that he made her feel wanted and at peace.

She decided not to tell her friends about Malcolm moving because, well, she just didn't. She figured that they wouldn't really miss her for another week or so and she wanted to spend his last moments here with him. Though if she was being honest with herself, she'd realize that she hadn't told her friends simply because she feared saying it aloud. As if as soon as she told someone that Malcolm was actually moving, it would be reality. And, well, reality just wasn't cutting it- it was something she didn't really want to focus on at the moment.

She knew that after she moved things would be...different between them. They wouldn't talk nearly as often, and Raven wasn't sure if she'd prefer it that way. After all, even though they hadn't  
been going out for a long time, she knew that if Malcolm told her about another girl (which he likely would find), she would die. She really didn't want to hear about that stuff as far as he was concerned. Just the thought of him with another girl sent a pang into Raven's heart.

She did miss talking to Robin, though. That wednesday, in the morning, Malcolm had asked to speak with her. And that's when he told her about the move to England (Oh yeah, on top of the fact  
that it would normally be difficult to speak often, that was now compounded by the enormous out-of-the-country fees). She then decided to make this the best last week of his, and realized several days later that she had yet to tell Robin why she hadn't really spoken to him often in the past few days.

But when she had tried to speak to him, he was always disgruntled.

And she wasn't quite sure why.

* * *

It wasn't until the day Malcolm was leaving that the rest of Raven's friends finally found out _why. _But when word spread that Malcolm was moving, they understood. They understood that they had to do _something _to show Raven that they still cared, that everything was going to be fine. Nothing else mattered anymore except coming up with a plan to make Raven feel better about the situation.

"Hey, dude, we're running intervention!" Gar whispered to Richard during lunch, his voice barely audible over the din of the cafeteria chatter.

"Intervention?" asked Richard.

"Yeah, like commando style, dude!"

Gar was extremely excited to test his abilities to infiltrate and go undercover, but Richard was still confused as to what they were running intervention on.

That's when Jinx spoke up, "Malcolm's moving tomorrow and, well, face it...Raven's gonna be sad, despite her alleged claim that she doesn't 'do' emotions. So we're planning a...secret party of sorts, a feel better kind of thing."

Richard nodded. To say he was happy was the understatement of the year. He was thrilled that Malcolm was moving away (far far away he later learned, to London). It was then that Richard decided that someone up there in the great big universe kinda sorta loved him, a fact that he was completely okay with. And suddenly, the previous week and a half of being slighted and ignored no longer seemed to agitate him anymore.

He was definitely going to the intervention, or as Garfield called it, Mission Make Rachel Smile (MMRS). Richard thought that, when abbreviated, it looked like the name of a shot or disease. Everytime Richard mentioned it, Gar would shush him loudly, telling him it was a "secret." Richard was barely able to find out the plan without strangling Gar, but instead he (frequently) reminded his scrawny friend that Rachel was at the airport with Malcolm, probably saying goodbyes, and that she wouldn't hear.

The plan was all set out, Jinx would invite (really insist Rachel go) to her house for a while. The rest of her friends would be there and they would spend the night playing games and doing stupid things to cheer Raven up and let her know that they were there for her. Jinx knew that, despite Raven's claims otherwise, that she'd be glad for the company.

And considering that Raven had been given a reprieve from her mom from going to school the next day, Jinx had made the plan into an all night sleepover. Those who still had to go to school were welcome to go home at anytime, but if they were able to talk their parents out of making them go to school, then they were invited to spend the night too (which all of them, it turned out, could).

Naturally, considering Raven was a good friend and Bruce was nowhere to be found (again), Richard just told Alfred he'd be missing from school to help a friend. And well, that was that.

At around 6:30, Richard arrived at Jinx's house after picking up the 4 pizzas Jinx had insisted on having. One was cheese (for Raven and Gar), one was the meatlover's pizza for Cy (apparently, he could eat a full pizza), the last two were sausage and pepperoni (for everyone else, naturally).

He knocked at the door and was ushered inside. Her home was, as expected, much smaller than his estate, but it was still nice and well kept. After entering the front door, Richard found himself in a spacious, light area, with elaborate, white corinthian columns supporting the wall between the area he was standing in and the front room. He could also see wooden stairs that wound their way up, almost like a spiral staircase. Jinx lead him past the corinthian columns to the front room with a large television. Richard saw Gar and Vic hard at work setting up their gamestation (apparently, the two had pooled money to buy one and traded off using it- naturally this led to many fights about whose turn it was to have the game system). Richard hauled the pizza boxes to the kitchen, which was adjacent to the living room and set them on the counter. Some of their other friends were still filtering in, they still had about a half an hour until they all hadto hide in the kitchen.

Jinx was practically on her feet the entire time, letting in their friends. In the end, everyone showed up (and then some).

Kori, Gar, Vic, Tara, Robin, Roy, Garth, and Karen were there. And then there was kid flash, or the flash. Jinx had seen him at one of the track meets and really liked him; she decided thathe should meet the rest of her friends and invited him. He wasn't exactly filled in on all of the details with Malcolm because Jinx assumed that with her friends around, Raven wouldn't cry or breakdown. Plus she was sure that her friend would prefer that her affairs remain private; Raven was a private person, more so than most people.

When Rachel did arrive around 7 to Jinx's house, she was surprised to see all of her closest friends there, waiting to surprise her. And she saw Wally West, from the track team there and least Jinx had found someone she liked.

That night they played all kinds of quirky games. They started with the standard pictionary and sorry!, having to drag Vic and Gar away from their precious gamestation. But as the night wore on, the games were a bit more fun. They had played games like b.s. and truth. They decided to begin a game of would you rather, with their own scenarios of course. It was ridiculous. Several times Raven was asked if she'd rather kiss Gar or do something else (usually the other option was infinetly worse), and Raven always picked the other option (much to Gar's dismay). Even when it was jump off a cliff.

They were all having a good time, and Raven found that she was actually (somewhat) forgetting about Malcolm and enjoying herself. But her favorite part of the evening was when everyone else was actually asleep. She had wandered downstairs into the kitchen, wide awake as she made herself a cup of tea at 2 am.

Contrary to popular belief, Raven was not a morning person. If life went her way, she would be nocturnal.

While pouring her tea, she heard the creaking of the floors, announcing to her that someone else was up and about. She looked up to see Robin enter the kitchen, looking as sleepless as she saw him turn on the television and expected him to start a movie or something, but instead, he turned on the gamestation and popped in a videogame. She brought her hot mugof tea over, standing behind the couch watching as he deftly killed several zombies on the screen.

Suddenly, his voice broke through her thoughts, "It's left for dead 2, do you want to play?"

Raven had never really been good at video games, her hand-eye coordination left much to be desired.

"I don't play videogames," she'd replied cooly, getting ready to leave.

"Don't or can't?" he'd asked playfully.

"Both," she answered honestly, "Have fun."

But as she stood to go, she felt him grab her arm. She turned around and looked at him curiously as he patted a spot on the couch next to him. She sighed and sat down. She hadn't expected him to actually find a second controller (her mind was preoccupied with the odd tingling feeling his touch left on her arm), but he did and her taught her how to play. They spent pretty much the rest of the night destroying zombies, and despite the mindless nature of it all, Raven was surprised that she enjoyed it as much as she did. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that she enjoyed who she was playing the game with.

She could honestly say that she loved spending time with Robin, it was never awkward and she always felt a sense of comfort and security around him.

She didn't remember falling asleep, all she knew was that it was around noon when Jinx had finally woken the two up. She could feel the redness creeping up her face as she realized that shehad fallen asleep in his arms. He looked embarrassed too, but thankfully Jinx didn't seem to notice.

"It's about time you woke up, everyone's practically gone. Only Kori sleeps as much as you do," remarked Jinx.

Raven looked at the television and noted that the gamestation was gone, so it seemed Vic and Gar had already left. Raven sighed and left for the bathroom, not bothering to ask Jinx if she could shower. Jinx's house was like her own.

After her shower, Raven was disappointed to see that Richard's parents had come and picked him up. Jinx noticed the shift in her friend's mood and smiled,_ so Raven does like Richard _she thought. She felt like she deserved something for this observation, perhaps an award of some sort. After all, Raven was no easy person to read, even after their years of friendship.

Raven and Jinx made turkey sandwiches for lunch, eating mostly in silence considering both of them were extremely tired. They didn't really mind the silence, both were wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Strangely, Raven's revolved more around Robin than around Malcolm. Jinx's thoughts were, predictably, on Wally.

Raven finally left for her house at around 2 to make sure she was there for when her siblings got home. Thankfully she had them plan on sleeping over at friend's houses that night. She figured the night after Malcolm left she'd be a wreck and didn't want her little siblings to see her in such parents of Melvin's friend, Amy, always volunteered to watch Teether as well. Normally Raven didn't take her up on the offer, but last night she had. And she was glad she did, or else she wouldn't have been able to stay the night.

* * *

Richard had decided to tell his friends that Saturday about his identity (after all, he only had until Monday before Vic's time limit was up). He would do what Gar did, tell them all to meet at the coffeehouse that Saturday whereupon he would announce to his friends that he was, in fact, Richard Grayson and not John Gray.

The thought made him nervous, and for once, he actually wished he was driving the car instead of Alfred. When Alfred had picked him up in the afternoon, he was surprised because he didn't have to call Alfred to remind him. He was also thankful that Alfred had enough sense to drive the black, nondescript Wayne Enterprises company car instead of one of Bruce's sports cars.

He needed something to do to keep his mind from wandering to the what-ifs of Saturday. What if they hated him? What if they shunned him again? How would Raven react?

He was so preoccupied that he (nor Alfred apparently) noticed the small silver jaguar that followed his car from a safe distance.

* * *

**Good? Bad? Ugly?**

**Please, please review! :)**

**Also, I wrote this with only around 2 hours of sleep, so I'm aware that there may be some mistakes. Sorry about that, really! I tried to edit out as many as I could...**

**Thanks!**

**~RukiaRae**

**P.S. My poll on my profile page is only going to be up for about another day or so, so if you haven't already, please vote! :) Gracias!**


	5. Author's Note

**Hey everyone,**

**Sorry to put this story on hiatus for a while, but my life just got really complicated in the span of one night. Apparently my sister was involved in a drug deal and my parents are getting divorced and I'm just completely lost...**

**I will write some and I won't abandon my stories, but I'm sorry to say, I _do_ need some time to deal with all of this. I'm sorry this is so abrupt, but I was just told all of this myself...**

**I'm really sorry,**

**~RukiaRae**


	6. Another Author's Note

**Hey guys! **

******First off I want to say thank-you so much to BG-13, DarkAngel2098, DeadlyRedAlice, ILuvFlinx, MiriZen, FelynxTiger, GuyFawkes522, Hope Is A Feather, Thymistacles, RobRae4Ever, dcandthebirds112446, Prowlersgirl, and Kimberly renee Manley for the kind words, they really really helped!**

******Things are still far from perfect, but they're getting back to normal...sort of. My parents decided to go to counseling to work out their problems and they're still working on what to do with my sister. The good thing is there wasn't enough evidence to get the authorities involved...So things are patching back together and I've gotten around to writing again :) yay**

******However, I will be gone this weekend for a family reunion and the following week I'm visiting one of my friends from Virginia. I haven't seen her in years, so I'm really excited. And then I start college almost right after that. So basically, I don't know when I'll be able to update next...but when I do, it will be multiple chapters for each story...so yeah**

******Once again, thanks everyone on fanfiction for the condolences and sticking with my stories! **

**~RukiaRae**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I'm sure you can tell, but I'm home now and I finally fixed the formatting problems with this chapter, yay! Hopefully it's less of an eyesore :)**

**Here it is, the better**

**Chapter 5!**

)()()()()()(

Richard walked into the cafeteria the next day only to find his friends, and everyone else for that matter, giving him strange, appraising glances. When he finally approached the table, no one said anything. Raven, who was with them all that morning, stalked out of the cafeteria after giving him a rather cold glare. And all at once, the situation hit him. They knew. He had no idea how they found out, but they knew. And so did the rest of the school. He sighed.

"How?" he asked his friends.

In response, Victor dropped a magazine in front of him, with pictures. Somehow, the media had noticed cars entering and exiting his house with usual frequency and figured out that he hadn't taken a trip and was under their noses all along. _Shit_ he thought. He knew that he was in for it. At least, as far as Raven was concerned, she had made that painfully obvious. He nervously raked his hand through his hair as he, rather reluctantly, met the gazes of his friends.

He could see the hurt in their eyes, particularly Kori's (she was definitely the most trusting and naive of the bunch), but he didn't notice anger. Well, not much of it anyway. Despite his lying to them, they seemed like they were going to forgive him. Sure they were hurt and bewildered by the fact that he hadn't trusted them with this secret, but, for better or worse, they had accepted him into their circle and were willing to work through the issue with him. Not only did that surprise him, but it also filled him to the brim with that warm feeling of friendship and acceptance, something he had never really felt as Richard Grayson.

And right then, despite the burden of knowing that he had hurt his best friends, he knew he had made the right decision to conceal his identity. By throwing himself into a completely new situation as a nobody, he'd been able to find a wonderful group of people that he knew he would've overlooked- and maybe already _had _overlooked- before.

"I know I lied to you all, but I have a good explanation, I swear," he began.

Richard suspected that Vic had already done some serious damage control because they were actually willing to listen. He was instantly glad that he had Alfred take him to school today instead of Vic, that was a lucky coincidence.

"Well, as you now know, I'm rich beyond belief," he continued, his voice betraying the calm facade he was trying to emanate, "And all my life people have befriended me easily and I was incredibly popular. Then, just before I started going to school here, a girl I knew, big bitch, really, said that the only reason I had friends was because I had money.

"The thought hadn't really occurred to me until she mentioned it, but afterward, I wanted to see for myself if that was true or not. So I persuaded my father, well adoptive father, lie and say we were traveling so that I could pretend to be someone else and go to school as a normal kid. And, well, the rest is history," he finished lamely.

He knew he had been rambling on, but he couldn't help it. He wanted them to trust him again, he wanted to _prove_ that he wasn't the rich person they'd come to expect (well, not anymore anyway).

"I was going to tell you all, honestly I was," he added for good measure.

"Friend, I wish that you would have entrusted us with this secret before," replied Kori, hesitantly choosing her words, "However, I understand why this was done and I would like you to know that I would still like to be your friend, if that is the okay?"

He grinned for the first time that day, "Of course we're still friends, Kor."

"Hmm, looks like my baby was right after all," said Karen, gazing lovingly at Vic, "you did have a good reason for lying."

Richard blanched, though he outwardly tried to maintain his composure. All Vic had told them was that he'd had a good reason. He hadn't tried to explain it, just told them all to wait? No wonder Raven was mad at him, she probably thought it was a stupid reason! And now she would never listen to him long enough for him to explain... Vic seemed to notice his change in disposition.

"Look man, I thought you'd explain it better," he explained.

Richard thought it was scary how Vic _always_ seemed to know what he needed to hear.

"Dude, just don't pull that shit again and we're cool," added Roy, and Richard registered Garth's nod at the statement.

"Noted," replied Richard with a nod and another grin. After the situation had been cleared up, their dynamic returned to normal. Richard was surprised at how quickly this had happened. Gar and Tara were arguing with Vic over the merits of tofu as a replacement for meat products. Roy was back to flirting with Kori, who was blushing madly. Garth had gone back to silently completing his homework and Jessica and Flash were kissing and talking. And he took comfort in the fact that his friends hadn't judged him and were willing to be reasonable and listen. He groaned, remembering that he still had to smooth things over with Raven. One quick glance at the clock confirmed his suspicion that he'd have to wait until lunch to talk to her, the bell was about to ring. He swiftly stood up and grabbed his things. Before quickly darting off, Jessica stopped him and said, "Look, Raven and I are good friends. She's mad at you now, but that won't last forever, okay? She'll come around if you're persistent enough." She then smiled and sauntered off leaving Richard to wonder if he was really that obvious about his concern for Raven and her reaction.

Maybe Vic wasn't good at reading people at all and he'd only been _extremely_ obvious. He preferred to think that Jessica was just as astute as Vic in the people reading department. As he slowly trekked off to his first class, he thought of how to approach the situation with Raven and what he would say. Normally he wouldn't give that much thought into the apology or the explanation, but he knew it would have to be perfect if he wanted even a _shred_ of opportunity to be her friend again. He just didn't know why _he_ cared so much. Sure, she had saved him from the clutches of Kitty, but even he knew it was more than that. But he didn't know what. And that bothered him immensely.

Why did he care about Raven's opinion so much? Was it just that he connected to her best out of the group (prior to the Malcolm interlude)? Or was it something more? It wasnt. Or at least it couldn't be. Even if, _hypothetically speaking_, _I did like her, I doubt she'd want to go out with someone like _me. Richard had been thinking so intently that he hadn't heard the teacher call out his name. Twice. When he was dazedly pulled from his mental pity party, he didn't even know the answer to the question. Which made several people in the class snigger; they thought that he was a dope. Which normally he wouldn't really care, except he already felt like an idiot and he really didn't like the class' confirmation. Needless to say, by the time his first class was over, he already felt like complete and utter crap.

At lunch, he quickly made his way over to the library, food and all to talk to Raven. Today he'd brought even more food as a peace offering of sorts. But when he saw her, the glare he received was cold. Like avalanche cold. Kind of like the morning, only Richard saw it as worse than the one in the morning because he felt worse than when he had in the morning. At least, because he was unsuspecting, he'd started the day in a good mood and was happy after the confrontation. Here, he had already mentally kicked the crap out of his brain for the better half of the morning and he felt like the world's biggest prick. It had occurred to him that he never trusted Malcolm and thought that Malcolm would be the one to hurt Raven. But the irony was, it was he who had hurt her. Or at least, wasn't deserving of her carefully placed trust.

And her glare just made him feel _worse_. He felt like moping for the rest of the day in pajamas with a creamy chocolate shake in hand and his computer in front of him. But clearly, that wasn't happening. So he stood, enduring the frigid glare. Only she didn't let up. And she made no effort to break the uncomfortable silence that engulfed the two.

"I-uh- brought lunch. Lots of it. Look, I need to talk to you, badly," he stammered, fidgeting with a stray thread on his sleeve and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He looked up when he heard her book slam closed. He thought he heard the sound reverberate throughout the library, and leaving a storm of silence in his wake, though, when he surveyed the room, he noted that people were still talking animatedly and reading normally. They hadn't noticed the slam like he had, it had much more impact on him. He inadvertently gulped. She was intimidating, despite her petite frame. When she spoke (the coldness in her voice rivaling that of her gaze), she commanded the same authority as the slam had and all of his focus was on her, "Look Richard, you can't just buy me lunch and hope this all goes away. You lied and I don't care what you have to say about it. Go away."

Richard was shocked as he numbly registered her words. He knew she was angry, but he didn't know she was going to be downright hostile. She had practically spit the words out at him as if he was scum of the earth. And all he wanted to do was _talk_...

"I only want to talk," he mumbled, more to himself than her.

"And I don't," she snapped, "So go away or _I_ will."

He sighed and left. He thought- _hoped_- that all she needed was a day or two to cool down and that, like Jessica said, she'd come around. But he had the nagging feeling that he was going to have to do something else about it. After all, Jessica had thrown in the word _persistent_ for a reason, right? He still reasoned that she might be easier to talk to after a few days. So he decided to wait until Sunday to talk to her and make his move. But he would have to prepare a bit first in order to get her attention...And decide on a proper plan...

And then all at once, an idea hit him like a car speeding at 100mph and a grin slowly spread itself across his face. This _had_ to work...

O.O

She was furious. He was a _liar_! She _trusted_ him and helped him and he'd _lied_ to her! He was a popular snot and he never bothered to say anything. As far as she was concerned, he was as bad as Kitty. Oh yes, she'd seen reports about him in the news, about his large parties and numerous girlfriends. And he had the nerve to try and befriend her. He was a class-A jerk and she had been fooled, which was something that _never_ happened.

She was just left to wonder, why _did_ he even bother with her? And the worst part of the whole thing was, she still _wished_ that she could talk to him and be friends again. After the sleepover at Jinx's, she felt like she had actually..._connected_ with him or something. Like he understood her effortlessly. And it was a feeling she_ liked_. It made her feel warm and happy inside, something she rarely allowed herself to feel. She had always reasoned that when you let yourself feel immense joy, when you lose it, it's worse than if you'd never felt it. And this proved her right.

She'd felt so comfortable around him and now she was...affected by the fact that he wasn't around anymore. _Stupid jerk_. At lunch, when he approached her looking guilty, she felt her heart flutter. She, for some stupid reason, actually thought that the scene would play out like in the movies where everything would turn out okay. She, strangely enough, _wanted_ him to be persistent and actually work things out. She knew she had been unnecessarily cold, but the fact that he just walked away _proved_ that he didn't even care. She cared more about their relationship than he ever did. _He's probably forgotten all about you by now _her thoughts whispered. And this made Raven want to curl into a ball and cry...if she was the kind of girl who did curl up in a ball and cry, which she wasn't. And Richard wouldn't change that.

After a long drive home of her thinking, she decided she'd call Malcolm to ask for his advice. And considering that she rarely used her phone, this was an emergency. She quickly darted to her room after saying a distracted hello to her siblings. She was anxious to talk to him, but she still took great care in stuffing a towel between the crack in her door and the floor; she didn't want her siblings, particularly Melvin, overhearing her conversation.

And she needed time to think. _I mean, maybe she should've listened to Richard_. Or maybe she was deluding herself into thinking that he had something _worth_ saying. Maybe she avoided more disappointment by not listening to him.

Yeah, she was in need of help. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, all centered around _him_. And she didn't even know _why_ she cared so much about the whole thing. She couldn't quite put her finger on it...

She was then yanked from her thoughts upon hearing Malcolm's voice. Well, groan, actually. He sounded like he'd just woken up.

"Look, Mindy I told you I'm taking a nap and I'll call you when I wake up, okay dear?" He sounded slightly annoyed.

"Um, it's Raven...guess I called at a bad time...catch you later, I guess." She could hear muffled cursing on the other line but she hung up before he could even reply.

It had been barely a week since he'd moved and it seemed like he had a steady girlfriend already. It seemed Mindy called too often to be just a friend, and besides, _dear_ wasn't something he'd call a friend. Finally, she let her tears fall, it was all too much, even for her. She'd lost a friend and a loved one in the span of 8 hours. She managed to pull herself together to feed her siblings but she went to bed soon after, claiming intense fatigue. It was, of course, a sad excuse to give herself some private time to cry silently to herself.

**

* * *

****Hey, okay so this is writing in gray and I'm not sure whyy...**

**Anyway, I'm glad so many of you liked it and sorry about the formatting, I made it normal again!**

**Thanks for all of the reviews, next chapter will be up (hopefully) soon! :)**

**~RukiaRae**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! I know you've all waited patiently for me to update and here it is, the next chapter. I'm sorry to say that there are probably only 2 more chapters left! :( I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I'm sorry if its a bit rushed, I wrote this on 3 hours of sleep...**

**Here is...**

**Chapter 6!**

That day, after school, Richard found Cy near his car to get a ride home.

"Hey, um, I'm going to need to you to do me a solid, Cy," began Richard once they were inside the car, away from fans equipped with their picture phones. Now was one instance where Richard hated technology, what happened to the large cameras that could be spotted miles away?

"Whatcha need man?" asked Cy.

"Um, I'm going to need Jinx's number," stated Richard, and before he could explain why, Cy was off on him.

"WHAT? YOU'VE BEEN MESSING AROUND ON RAE? SHE DESERVES TO BE MAD AT YOU, SPIKY HAIRED, FOUR FOOT TALL FREAK!"

In the middle of Cy's rant, Richard pulled out a water bottle and tipped it so that the water almost poured out….

"Alright, alright, what do you want dude? Don't hurt my baby!" begged Vic, on the verge of tears at the mere _thought _of his T-car in harm's way.

"Just listen," answered Richard, still holding the water bottle at its precarious balance until he was finished, "I need her number because she's Raven's best friend. I need her help…"

"Oh," replied Vic, sheepishly, "Sure, man. It's 703-555-4770."

Richard quickly copied it onto a corner of one of his notebooks. "Thanks man. You saved my ass," Richard admitted, a grin on his face. For the first time, he felt like he had a chance to get Raven back. _She was never yours to begin with, get a grip_ he reminded himself.

Richard was on edge for the rest of the drive to his house, he _needed _to get home and call Jinx. He wouldn't feel better until he had his plan completely worked out.

"Cut it out man!" snapped Vic out of the blue. It took Richard a moment to register the fact that Vic was referring to his fingers tapping on the passenger door.

"Sorry, I'm just really nervous." _And I feel like I'm going to puke _he mentally added. He had no idea how he was going to pull this off.

"Hey man, whatcha nervous about?" questioned Vic, curious about what Richard had planned.

"I'm not sure I can pull this off," groaned Richard.

"What's 'this'?"

And then Richard told Vic his plan, after all, Vic had been his confidante up until then and had done a fairly good job. Not to mention he knew Raven well and he would know if the plan had a chance of working.

"_So?" _asked Richard earnestly. He was losing it.

"Dude, if that doesn't work, I don't know what will," replied Vic grinning, "That's brilliant man, certifiably genius."

Richard tried to match Vic's enthusiasm, however, part of him registered the fact that a) there was a chance this _wouldn't _work (despite its genius) and b) If, indeed, it did fail, Richard was going to have a hell of a time coming up with something better. Both of those thoughts didn't exactly comfort him.

Richard noticed the relief he felt when Vic pulled into the manor's iron gates and sighed. He really needed a better way to cope with stress, then again, this was the most stressed he'd felt _ever. _She kind of had that effect on him. Maybe because this was the first situation where he actually _cared_ about the outcome.

He quickly took his stuff from Vic's car and dashed into his house, barely waving back at his friend. Vic chuckled, he _knew _the plan had to work. He could tell that she had a soft spot for him, like he had for her.

Meanwhile, Richard practically sprinted to his room and dialed Jinx's number…several painful moments later, he reached voicemail. He _desperately needed _to talk to her. So he called back. And this time, she answered. He almost felt like dancing. _Almost. _

"Jinx. Hey it's Richard and I really need your help…"

_"With what?" _he heard her ask, though he suspected that she knew why.

"I need to get Raven to talk to me again. I have a plan…" he said, carefully choosing his words.

_"Tell you what, I'll help you with whatever you need. But first, you have to answer me a question. Okay?" _ He could tell it was going to be a question he didn't like. But he really had no other options, she was Raven's best friend and knew the most about her.

He sighed, "Okay. Ask away."

_"Remember, be honest. So…do you feel anything for Raven? Anything beyond friendship, that is…" _The question caught him completely off guard. He knew he wouldn't like the question, but he didn't think that would be her question. He was more accustomed to answering questions about his "mysterious" past. Or to do some kind of interview. Needless to say, he wasn't expecting that.

So _did _he like Raven? Well he did value her company, that was true. And he liked being around her.

"Um, I don't know. I like being around her and she understands me best, I guess. Does that count as a yes?"

He cringed when he heard her laugh, _"Well, you'll never be mistaken for a great communicator, Richard. But I asked how you _felt, _not what you thought."_

Okay, so this was definitely a tricky question. Richard thought back to all of his encounters with Raven, like spinning through a Rolodex of memories. And for each one, he realized that he was nervous around her. He wanted her approval, more so than with anyone else. And he wanted to impress her. And, if he was being honest with himself, he was a _little _jealous when Malcolm had swooped in and taken her away for those weeks.

And he remembered feeling a pang when she glared at him this morning, like his heart was having a spasm and he felt like he was suffocating. Okay so maybe he did feel a little something for her…

"Um, okay, yea, I do feel things around her more than around other people. Does that answer your question?" he responded, a bit peevishly, not enjoying sharing his feelings with Jessica.

_"Yes it does….Omigosh I can't believe you liiiikkkkeee her!" _squealed Jessica in delight.

"Okay, yes, I like her. _Now _will you help me?" asked an exacerbated Richard.

_"Of course. What did you have in mind?"_

_

* * *

_

Richard recalled the anxiousness he'd felt yesterday when he'd called Jessica and realized that he would much prefer that to today's nerves. Today was the day that he was going to get Raven to forgive him.

His nerves wouldn't let him sleep for most of the night so Richard eventually gave up and got up out of bed. He trudged over to his bathroom, and from the mirror there (which he always found unnecessary), he could see that he looked like shit. Deep plum bags lined his eyes and he looked about ten years older than he actually was. He was completely disheveled (courtesy of the tossing and turning all night), and he felt exhausted. Still he decided to continue with his morning routine of getting ready, starting with a warm shower.

When he was finally all dressed and ready to go, he saw, much to his dismay, that it was only 6:45. Nothing would be open. Richard walked downstairs, planning to relax and watch television until the store he needed to go to was open. He stumbled into the living room and was shocked to see his foster father, Bruce, already there with a bowl of cereal watching _The Dark Knight. _Richard took in his appearance, he too looked disheveled and worn. Richard remembered when Bruce adopted him he was strong and…healthy looking. Then again, Richard was only 10 and anyone significantly taller than him looked strong. Still, he could see traces of Bruce's aging, the gray hairs, the new wrinkles, the bags under his eyes, and the general lack of vitality that he remembered.

Bruce was often at work and being the head of the world's most successful enterprise and that did require enormous amounts of effort, and considering he spent the last few years really expanding Wayne Enterprises internationally, Richard reasoned that Bruce would definitely show signs of exhaustion. Especially since it involved a lot of traveling around the world, something that was considered to be very stressful. In that moment, Richard found himself feeling sorry for his adoptive father instead of the usual feeling of abandonment.

"Are you alright son? You look like you got in a fight and lost," commented Bruce, pulling Richard from his train of thought.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Bruce. I couldn't sleep," replied Richard. This was one of those few moments where he and Bruce actually acted like the stereotypical father and son. And Richard found his advice invaluable, though he would never admit it.

"What's on your mind? It might help you to talk it out, you know," offered Bruce.

Richard nodded, "Be right back, we'll talk then."

Bruce just smiled as Richard left toward the kitchen, he knew why Richard quickly dashed off to the kitchen. Sure enough, a few moments later, his suspicions were proven correct when Richard returned with a bowl of Capitan Crunch cereal.

It had been their tradition since he'd first adopted the orphan. He could tell that Richard needed someone to talk to about his parent's death, so Bruce did the one thing that he knew how. He sat and talked with his new son over a bowl of sugary comfort cereal. He had fond memories of the same thing with his father and decided to pass the tradition on.

"Okay," began Richard, chewing an enormously large spoonful of cereal, "So you know how I went to school undercover?"

Bruce nodded, "Well I fucked things up with one of my best friends and now I'm trying to fix it."

Bruce sat there, as immobile and enduring as a statue, contemplating Richard's situation. Finally, he asked, "What's her name?"

Richard sat there, stunned. He knew Bruce had an uncanny ability to read people, but he never realized just how good he was at it. Again, he wasn't going to say that, so instead he opted for, "When did I say it was a girl?"

Bruce smirked, "I don't think you're the kind of person to lose sleep over a guy friend that you hurt, if your friendships with past males are any indication. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong."

Richard couldn't suppress the redness that engulfed his face, "Her name is Rav- well Rachel. But her friends call her Raven."

"Ah," replied Bruce, lapsing into thought once more.

"I take it you like this girl then?"

Richard groaned, how did _everyone _know?

"Yea, I do," he reluctantly admitted, running a hand through his limp, disheveled charcoal hair.

"Then let me give you this bit of advice. Women can be stubborn as hell sometimes. So if you really like her, be persistent and do _not_ let her go. The moment you stop trying she will think that have given up and no longer find her worthwhile, so don't stop trying until you finally get her."

Richard stared dumbfounded at Bruce. And it just clicked, why Bruce never got married, this same thing happened with him. And Richard could see that it was something that he regretted very much. And for the first time he could remember, he voluntarily embraced Bruce, his mentor and his father.

"Thank-you," he muttered.

He then sat and watched the rest of _The Dark Knight _with Bruce, glad to spend some time with him. He suspected that Alfred also knew that this time was precious because he didn't come to collect the dirty bowls until Bruce retired to his office and Richard left the mansion.

Cruising in his sleek, black Mercedes, Richard was glad for the morning talk with Bruce, it had tremendously lifted his spirits. He wouldn't give up, no matter how many damn plans it took.

He was also glad that it was now 9:32, a time where things were open and he could occupy himself until he could begin his plan. Richard just drove lazily around Gotham for a while before finally setting off to his destination. It was finally time to put his meticulously thought out plan into action.

* * *

Raven groaned when she awoke to the ribbons of sunlight that snaked through her dark curtains and pried their way into her eyes. She really didn't feel like getting out of bed. She had a massive headache from crying and she could feel the residue left by her tears of the previous night.

Eventually, she rolled, rather ungracefully, out of bed and decided to get ready. She knew she had to pull herself together for her siblings. When she glanced in her bathroom mirror, the only thought that came to her was, _wow I look like shit. _She examined her reflection more closely. The bloodshot, puffy eyes were not doing her any justice. And the small streaks of mascara and smudged eyeliner made her look worse than members from Kiss. Her eyes also bore bags-no _luggage- _that showed her lack of a good night's sleep to anyone who gazed upon her. In short, she was a complete disaster.

She settled on starting her day off with a nice, warm shower. Normally she took short showers to preserve money, however, today was an exception. She let the warm water cascade down her back and soothe her tense muscles. After about an hour in the shower, she felt sufficiently relaxed to begin her day. She changed into her old, ratty grey sweats and threw on a black tank top. She also coaxed her hair into a decent looking bun. She had already made up her mind that today would be an at home day. Raven checked her phone for any messages from her best friend Jinx and saw several from Malcolm. He also sent a plethora of texts. Raven deleted them all, if he could forget her so quickly then she could do the same, right? Or she could pretend to. She sighed and called her friend, hoping for some support.

Thanfully, Jinx answered right away, _"Raven, I was about to call. How're you holding up?"_

Raven just grunted a reply.

_"Get dressed in something nice, I'm dragging you out today."_

"Thank-you, really, but I'm just really not in the mood, Jinx," replied Raven, her voice even more despondent than usual.

_"What's wrong? Did something happen?" _asked Jinx, concern evident in her voice.

"Last night I called Malcolm to talk, right? I accidentally woke him up and when he answered the phone he thought he was talking to Mindy, who's apparently, his 'dear'," ranted Raven, sadness penetrating her voice with each word.

_"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. What a prick! Now we are definitely going out today. And no arguing, I _promise _it'll make you feel better. And if it doesn't, then you can make me do anything to make it up to you. Okay?"_

Raven chuckled, her mind filling with ways to torture her friend, "Fine. When do we leave?"

_"Sometime after 6. Look, I want you to know that I really am sorry. To lose two guys you like in one day is rough," _sympathized Jinx.

"Wait, what?" asked Raven. Her friend's words had just dawned on her…_To lose two guys you like…_she did not like Richard. No. The only reason she was even remotely upset was because he was a liar. That was the extent of it, right?

Okay so maybe she had a small, tiny, microscopic soft spot for him. He seemed nice and understanding and not judgmental like so many other highschoolers she'd known. He seemed different, and that did appeal to her. And he wasn't bad looking, but she couldn't like him, could she?

"_You there?" _asked Jinx, her voice slicing through Raven's thoughts.

"Um, yea. Hey let me call you back, I've got to take care of my brothers and sisters," said Raven before quickly hanging up.

She dashed downstairs to her siblings and saw them all setting up to play a game of candyland. At their urging, Raven joined in the game. But her thoughts continued to stray toward Richard no matter how she tried to chase them away. They leaked into her mind, finding the crevices and weak spots to penetrate, and Raven was left defenseless. She had nothing that could occupy her to the point where she wouldn't think . She'd even tried reading once the game was over, but much to her dismay, she couldn't focus on the tome at all.

No matter how hard she tried to prevent it, her brain spent most of the day trying to determine whether or not she actually liked Richard. She concluded, that she had, in fact, liked him a _very little _but now that he had proven himself a liar, she did not. Or she did not want to. In truth, she wished that he proved himself to be the different person that she thought she glimpsed before. She wanted him to be John Gray so badly and yet he'd failed spectacularly to prove that yesterday. Maybe she was hoping he was something that he wasn't. She wasn't sure. All she knew was that, come Monday, she would avoid Richard Grayson like the plague.

* * *

**Good? Bad? Let me know! **

**Please, please, please, please (x5 million) review! I love reviews! :)**

**Hope you all enjoyed it! **

**It probably will be a few days before I get the chance to update anything, let alone this story, because I'm moving into college! yay! Thought I'd give you all a heads up! But, rest assured, I'm not abandoning this story, so be patient with me! :)**

**Thanks again!**

**~RukiaRae**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay I'm sorry it took so long to update this story! It's almost done, though. I think I'm only going to have one more chapter for this story :( Maybe two more if I do an epilogue thing of like 10 years or so into the future...we'll see, maybe I'll have you all vote on it next chapter :) In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and that it was well worth the wait!**

**So without further ado,**

**...Chapter 7!**

Raven groaned when she looked up and saw the numbers 5:30 glaring back at her from her clock. Jinx would be over soon and Raven was sure that she still looked like shit. She sighed and turned on her flat iron. While it was busy heating up, Raven rummaged through her closet for something suitable to wear. Whenever something bad happened to either Jinx or Raven, the other would take them out and treat them to something nice to cheer them up.

Like the one time Jinx got stood up for a date, Raven quickly got ready in something nice and the two of them went out to eat at a nice restaurant instead. Raven assumed that just like every other time they got together, this would also be something that would blow away most of her month's savings. So she found the one dressy black dress that she owned and quickly changed into it. She also found the black peep-toe pumps she always wore with it and set those aside for when she had to leave. Then she went through the painful task of straightening each strand of hair on her head.

When she was finally done with that, she quickly applied some eyeliner to each eye to hide the puffiness and smudged some deep purple eyeshadow over each eye. Considering what hell she'd been through, Raven found it comforting to know that she could hide it away with some well done eye make up and a pretty dress.

Raven rarely wore dresses. She wouldn't even own the dress she was wearing had her mother not bought it and realized too late that it didn't fit her. Despite the fact that Raven never wore dresses, she did find them pretty. Like the one she wore now, it was simple and yet looked so elegant. It only had one strap on the right shoulder and fell to just above her knees. It was remarkable, really, how different she looked in a dress. How different anyone could look when dressed up. Despite feeling the prettier than she had in the last two days, Raven still didn't feel like going out. Not tonight. She sighed and grabbed her shoes and purse and headed down the stairs to the living room. The clock now read 6:01.

"Where are you going?" came the innocent voice of Melvin. Raven turned to see her sister's shining blue eyes staring up at her in question.

"Jinx and I are going to hang out tonight, that's all," answered Raven, "Hey, do you want me to read one of the Dr. Seuss books to you guys before I go?"

"YEA!" came the unanimous cry from all three of them.

"Okay go get the one you want me to read," replied Raven, a small smile on her face. The three of them quickly returned with _Green eggs and Ham, _Teether's favorite book. Raven shot a knowing smile at Melvin, this she knew, was not Melvin's favorite book but she let Teether choose anyway. "Okay…," began Raven.

She read each page slowly, enunciating each word and showing them the pictures on the page. Despite having heard the story several times before, they all ooh-ed and ahh-ed at all the right places. When she finished reading the book, Raven smiled again, knowing how much this time meant to them. Raven had always tried to spend time with her siblings, despite the large age difference, but lately with all the drama in her life, Raven was sure she hadn't been around as often as usual. Raven made up her mind to spend more time with them in the future, they already had a messed up family life the most she could do was make it easier for them.

"Okay, so tell mom to heat up the spaghetti leftovers, okay?" informed Raven while she checked her phone for any missed texts or calls. _Weird, it's already 6:15, Jinx should be here by now._

"I don't think mommy's coming home tonight," explained Melvin.

"_What?" _choked Raven. Upon seeing the wide eyes and shocked looks on her sibling's faces, Raven amended with, "Um, okay, I guess I'll do that now."

She then quietly thanked Jinx for being late and went about microwaving the spaghetti and red sauce and getting milk for them to drink.

* * *

Richard went over his mental checklist. Thanks to Jinx, everything was practically perfect. He had the lilies, which were her favorite apparently. He was also dressed up, as Jinx instructed him to do, though he wasn't really sure why. And he was armed with her address, also courtesy of Jinx, the only person who'd been permitted to visit on a regular basis. Yet, despite having everything in order, Richard still felt extremely nervous.

When he pulled into Raven's driveway, he was immensely relieved to see Jinx already there waiting in her driveway. Jinx was a godsend. He noticed that Raven's house was really far away from the school and also in a bad neighborhood. There were boards nailed to the windows of some houses, others taped black garbage bags over the gaping holes of the windows because the glass had been broken. Even Raven's house showed several signs of disrepair and decay. Richard figured this was why she never told anyone else where she lived.

"Okay, stick to the plan," reminded Jinx.

Richard gulped and nodded, he wasn't prepared for this. He couldn't even speak. He was about to tell Jinx to hold on a second, however, he was a few seconds too late. She had already knocked on the door.

* * *

Raven heard the knock at the door. _About time, Jinx. _

Raven was still busy getting the food set up for her siblings so she said, "Melvin, get the door, would you?"

Melvin nodded and sprinted to the door, opening it to reveal Jinx and someone else she didn't recognize. Nonetheless, Melvin did as she was instructed and waved the duo in. She then returned to the kitchen. "Okay guys, dinner's ready," called Raven. Immediately, her two younger siblings bounded to their seats and began scarfing down their food. Raven sighed, she still had to feed Timmy baby food because he was too young to eat solid food.

"Hey, I still have to feed Timmy, do you mind waiting?" called out Raven.

"Here, let me do it," offered Jinx. Raven turned around to find her friend clad in an oversized T-shirt and sweats. Raven shot her friend a confused look, but before she could ask, Jinx jerked her head to the living room, indicating that Rachel should head over there. Rachel was still confused, but still did as her friend silently told her. And then she saw him standing there, awkwardly, dressed in a black tux and armed with lilies, her favorite flower.

"Um, these are for you," he began, shifting nervously and handing out the lovely boquet of flowers to her.

Raven nodded and took them. Normally she would've just glared except he looked extremely pale an nervous and Raven found herself feeling bad for him.

"Okay, so I know you're mad but all I'm asking is that you hear me out for five minutes. If after then you're still mad and don't want to talk to me then I promise I'll leave, okay?" he asked.

Again, Raven nodded glancing at the time on her phone, "Okay. But only five minutes."

"Okay, so, about a month ago I went to Gotham High. I had lots of friends, everything was fine, whatever. But then this one resentful girl, Courtney, told me that everyone only liked me because of my money. I had never really given this much thought," he paused at the disbelieving look on Raven's face, "I know, it sounds dumb. I mean, I always knew that people tried to befriend me for my money but I had always thought that after hanging around me they actually liked me for me and saw past the money aspect."

Raven nodded, okay that made sense. It was incredibly naïve, but it still made some sense. And Raven was happy because he didn't seem to be lying.

"So then I asked Bruce if I could transfer schools undercover, maybe say I was in Japan or something to cast off suspicion. He agreed, so I went by my middle name, John. At Jump High, the first week was hell. I was ignored and picked on and I began to think that maybe Courtney was right. Then that Friday you helped me and introduced me to all of these nice people and they all liked me as John, not Richard. In fact, most of you condemned anyone who was even remotely popular, and after seeing Kitty, with good reason. I was just scared about what would happen if you all found out that I was like that," finished Richard.

"So then why tell Vic?" asked Raven.

"Well it wasn't on purpose. That day we first met, when Vic took me home, I told him to drop me at this one house that was three houses away from mine. But Vic already knew who lived there and called my bluff so I came clean. Vic then told me I had a month to tell you guys, so yea I probably should have said something before then, but I didn't want to ruin everything. I hoped that if you guys actually got to know me, that when you found out who I was, it wouldn't matter. I was going to tell you all yesterday at the same café I first met you all at. I'm really, really sorry, I know I fucked things up badly, and I'm sorry."

As soon as he finished with his explanation, Richard began to fidget once more and avoid Raven's gaze.

Raven heaved a sigh, "You're an idiot." Richard looked at her, bewildered and unsure about what this comment meant. But then Raven cracked a small smile and added, "But you're forgiven, bird brain."

"Really?" squeaked Richard. Before Raven could answer, she found she was in a death hug from Richard.

"And I thought only Star could hug like that, guess I was wrong," commented Raven dryly after he finally let her go. Richard smiled sheepishly.

"So, um, I have another question for you," began Richard, looking just as nervous as he previously had.

"Okay, ask away," replied Raven.

"Um, I was wondering iff…you'd, uh, like to maybe go out with me?" he asked, speaking quicker as he stumbled over the question.

Raven could feel the heat that rose to her cheeks, he was really asking her out? She gave a small smile and answered with her own sheepish, "okay." The irrepressible grin that spread across Richard's face caused Raven to flush an even deeper crimson.

He then extended his arm out to her.

"Wait, _now?_" She asked.

"Well, why not. We're both already ready."

Raven then remembered that she was, indeed, dressed in her finest black dress.

"Um, but where exactly would we go?" she asked.

"Well we could go out to eat..." supplied Richard, trailing off. Okay so he hadn't given the idea much thought, he wasn't even sure what kind of food she liked (apart from edible cafeteria food).

"You made reservations already?" asked Raven, surprise evident in her voice. _How could he have known?_

_"_Well not exactly. I actually kind of thought I'd be dead by now," he said, interrupted by Raven's light laughter, "But one of the few good things about being me, is well, I don't think I need reservations anywhere."

Raven chuckled, "Fair enough. So where to?"

"Wherever you want," he replied, gesturing for Raven to lead the way out.

"What, no kiss? I feel ripped off!" yelled Jinx after them. Both turned to see Jinx standing in the kitchen doorway.

"How long have you been there?" asked Raven, an edge to her voice. But Jinx didn't seem to notice.

"Since about, 'why tell Vic?' so, basically, most of it," informed Jinx.

"Jinx-" began Raven with a growl, but she was interrupted.

"-I know I'm not getting any problems from you. I just made your life. And I'm babysitting while you two lovebirds go get some real food," stated Jinx.

Raven sighed, her friend had a point.

"Fine, but no commentary then," said Raven.

"All I said was that I wanted to see a kiss from you two. Honestly, it's about time."

This comment caused both Raven and Richard to blush a bright red. Jinx just laughed, "I swear this relationship is going to be moving at such a glacial pace. The world will be drowned by iceburgs before anything interesting happens between you two." Jinx then sauntered back to the kitchen, her laughter still reverberating off the walls of the house.

"Um, sorry about her Richard," mumbled Raven, still bright red. Raven then continued to walk toward the door when she felt Richard's hand lightly grab her arm.

"I'd appreciate it if you called me Robin again. When you call me Richard it makes me think you're angry with me," he said, his face dangerously close to hers.

"Ok-kay, Robin," she choked out, nervous by the proximity between her and Robin.

As soon as she finished saying that, he lightly pressed his lips to hers. After a few seconds to regain herself, Raven wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. When they eventually broke apart, both of their faces were tinged pink.

Richard then took her hand and lead her out to his motorcycle. Neither noticed Jinx's reappearance. She had seen the kiss and now had a smug smile plastered on her face. _They owe__ me so big for this._

_

* * *

_Outside, Raven dubiously eyed the motorcycle.

"You actually expect me to ride this?" She asked.

"Well, yea," he replied, "You know, you're the first person I've met with such an aversion to motorcycles."

"Really?" she asked with a frown, "No wonder why everyone considers Americans stupid. I refuse to ride that scrap-metal."

He laughed, "Well this is one of those things that you have to do at least once in your life. Like skydiving."

"I don't _have _to do this," she stated sternly, "And, besides, how do I know you can drive that thing?"

He grinned, "Well you don't, but you'll find out in a few minutes." He then patted the seat behind him. Raven rolled her eyes, but eventually conceded and sat on the space behind him.

"Okay, hold on," he advised.

"To wha-?" scoffed Raven, but he started the motorcycle before she could finish her question. He heard her give a small shriek before grabbing onto his waist. He chuckled slightly.

"Not funny, Robin," she said.

"I think it is," he replied, causing her to scoff again.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence passed between them, it dawned on Richard-

"Hey, you never told me where you wanted to go," Robin stated, "So where to?"

"Surprise me."

Richard smiled, knowing just the place to go. He sped off to his destination feeling much happier than he had in a long time. He owed Jinx. Big.

* * *

**Okay, so what did you guys think? I know it was a shorter chapter, but it has to be or else it'll mess up my idea for next chapter, so I'm sorry about that. Please, please, please send me a review with your thoughts! That'd be much appreciated!**

**MINI SPOILER ALERT: Okay, next chapter I thought I'd skip ahead to their graduation at the end of the year and do a chapter on that. Should I add another epilogue onto that or just leave it after they graduate? Just something for you all to start thinking about...**

**Hope you all enjoyed it! **

**~RukiaRae**


	10. Chapter 10

**A****uthor's Note:**

**Hey again!**

**Okay so I wasn't going to make a chapter about their date, and instead, let it be for the reader to determine what happened. But the more I'm considering this, the more I think I could make a chapter with their first date fit and work with the flow of the story. And I really can't decide if I want to add it or not.**

**If I do add it, however, it (obviously) has to be the next chapter...**

**So, I leave it up to you guys...Do you want me to do a chapter with their date or just skip ahead to the end of the year like I originally planned to do? Let me know by PMing me or sending a review! Thanks for reading the story and helping me out with this dilemma!**

**~RukiaRae**


	11. Chapter 11

******Hey guys, once again, I know it's been a while, but I've had bronchitis, a broken computer, and now several final exams in a few weeks...So I'm sorry about the long delay for this story! I've also been having a bit of writer's block for all of my stories, so I finally have an idea where I want this chapter to go! yay :) Once again sorry about the long delay, and here it is,**

******Chapter 8!**

After a while of driving, Richard finally drove his motorcycle into...a gas station.

Raven laughed, "How romantic."

He gave a laugh of his own before replying, "You know me."

She smiled and dismounted from the motorbike, handing him the spare helmet.

"Okay," Richard began nervously, "So I have to make a few phone calls to get everything in order..."

Raven understood what he was getting at, despite the unfinished sentence.

"And you want me to leave, I take it?"

"Only if you still want it to be a surprise," he offered.

She grunted. "Fine, I'll be in there," she informed, pointing to the gas station store, "looking at magazines or something."

Richard nodded. He then waited until she was far enough away before calling his house. After several rings, someone picked up.

"Hello, Master Richard," greeted the elderly voice of his head butler, Alfred.

"Hey, Alfred, I know this is _really _short notice but I was wondering... how long would it take to prepare dinner?"

Alfred chuckled, "Depends on what you want made."

Richard scratched his head, trying to think of the names of all the delicious foods Alfred had prepared over the years, but nothing was coming to mind at present.

Eventually, Richard replied, "Well something that's delicious that doesn't take long to make."

"If you don't mind me asking, how many people should this meal serve?" asked Alfred, though Richard guessed he already knew the answer.

"Just two," murmured Richard, the warmth of a blush forming on his cheeks.

"Alright. I'll start making something now, sir," answered Alfred before hanging up the phone. Richard gave a sigh of relief, he knew he could trust Alfred with this. Richard grinned and headed over to the gas station store, confident that everything would go smoothly.

Sure enough, he found Raven flipping through one of the magazines there.

"Come on, let's go!" he said loudly, his voice full of enthusiasm, as he pulled Raven by the arm and out of the store. When they exited the store, both teens were surprised to find snow blanketing the area. Richard took off his suit jacket and gave it to Raven, who was wearing her short, black dress. She quietly thanked him before slipping on the jacket.

Before Raven could once again take her place on the motorcycle, Richard stopped her.

"Okay so there will be a point where I tell you to close your eyes, and you _have _to listen."

"Really? I _have _to?" asked Raven with a smirk.

"Okay, no that's not what I meant-," Richard began, but was interrupted.

"- I know, I get it," Raven explained with a small smile on her face.

Richard sighed, "Then why challenge it?"

Raven smiled, "Well, you know me, I'm just a bit difficult."

Richard laughed, not daring to comment on that. Finally both teens once again hopped on the sleek, jet black motorcycle and were off to their destination. To give Alfred some time to prepare the dinner, Richard drove down random streets, hoping to buy some time. It was about 15 minutes later that Richard finally admitted to himself that he'd gotten himself lost. _Wonderful._

"Are we almost there?" Raven called over the roar of the motorcycle.

"I think so," answered Richard.

"What do you mean you _think _so?"

_Might as well just tell her _he thought.

"I'm kind of...lost," he replied, saying the word lost a bit softer hoping she wouldn't quite catch it over the noise from the engine.

Sure enough she didn't hear it and asked him to repeat himself. Turns out, having to repeat it another time was even more humiliating. It wasn't helping that he could hear her laughing from behind him.

"Where are you trying to go?" she asked.

"Gotham," he replied, his face still burning from embarrassment.

Raven just shrugged, "I have no idea. Just pull over and ask someone."

Richard did as she told, pulling over and parking his motorcycle at the side of the street. Looking up and down the sidewalk, they noticed that the street was deserted.

"Let's just walk, we're bound to find _someone_," reasoned Richard.

Raven nodded, "It's currently our best bet."

They walked in silence alongside each other.

"So..." began Richard, trying to think of a conversation topic.

Raven just laughed, "You're usually so talkative, Robin."

He laughed, "Only because you're not."

"Fair enough," conceded Raven, "So you were saying?"

"I wasn't really saying anything, just trying to think of something," he replied.

"Ah," muttered Raven, letting the silence drag on before asking, "So, what are we going to do if we can't find anyone?"

Richard was spared from answering that question because a couple had just turned on the street, walking toward Rich and Raven.

"Guess we don't have to worry about that," stated Richard before jogging up to the couple to ask how to get to Gotham. Raven caught up and also listened to the directions, lest Robin get lost again.

After they had given him directions, the short, brown haired girl asked, "Are you that Grayson kid?"

Richard grimaced, "Yeah."

The girl gasped and the guy she was with also looked surprised. The girl pulled out a sketchbook and rifled open to a clean piece of paper and produced a sharpie, "Could you sign this?"

Richard sighed, picking up the sharpie and scrawling his name on the piece of paper. The girl squealed with delight, "Thank- you _so _much, it was nice meeting you!"

"Same," responded Richard gruffly before handing back her sharpie.

Just as Richard was about to leave with Raven, the girl gasped, "Are you guys going out? Oh, you make _such _an adorable couple, don't they, honey?"

The man accompanying her nodded stiffly, noticing how his girlfriend was putting the two on the spot. Even from the dim lights on the streets, the teens crimson blush could be seen spreading their cheeks.

"Come on, sweetie, let's leave them be," he urged.

"Okay. You kids have a nice time!" She called out while walking away, turning around to wink at Richard and Raven. This caused both of them to blush even further.

After a moment of awkward silence, Richard said, "Well, that certainly was..._interesting_."

Raven nodded in agreement. Once again, silence stretched between them.

"Hey, let's get going," suggested Richard.

They both turned and began walking back to the abandoned motorcycle.

All of a sudden, Raven's shriek pierced the silence as she slipped on a piece of ice. Relying on his reflexes, Richard caught Raven in his arms before she hit the pavement.

"You okay?" he asked, gazing down into her amethyst eyes.

"Yea...I'm fine," she mumbled, shock still visible on her petite features.

Raven, rather hesitantly stood, with Richard's help and steadying grasp. As soon as she found her bearings, Richard removed his hand from her back and shoved it back into his pants pocket. Raven missed the support of Richard's hand, but didn't dare ask him to hold her again. She still had some dignity.

When they finally reached the motorcycle, they both mounted it quickly, eager to get to their destination and out of the cold. Richard sped off, finally knowing where he was supposed to be going. After exiting the highway to Gotham, Richard called for Raven to close her eyes, and he turned around to make sure she was doing so.

"WATCH THE ROAD!" she yelled, eyes wide open, panicked by him turning to face her.

Richard laughed, "I am."

Then he slowly lifted his hands off the handlebars, causing Raven to tighten her hold about his waist.

"Richard, this _isn't _funny," she snapped.

Laughing Richard returned his hands to the handlebars before saying, "Relax, we're fine. But really, you need to close your eyes."

"_If _I do, you have to _promise _to look at the road and keep your hands where they are, _okay?_" she asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice (and completely failing).

"Okay, I promise."

"Good," she replied, before securely closing her eyes. Richard didn't bother to check this time, but he knew that she would keep up her end of the bargain, just as he had by not turning around. Richard was glad that she closed her eyes when she had, for he had just turned into a residential neighborhood and was sure that she would've been able to guess where they were headed based on the scenery around them.

Barely 10 minutes later, Richard pulled up the driveway and stopped the motorcycle, helping his girlfriend off the back and taking her helmet, leaving it dangling from one of the handlebars. He smiled as he took her hands in his and led her into his house. As soon as they were in the front door, Richard finally told Raven to open her eyes.

Raven blinked several times at the foyer, trying to adjust herself to the shining splendor that surrounded her. She gazed in awe at the sleek marble floors, and the carved stone walls that arched high over her head. At evenly spaced intervals, imposing stone columns emerged from the walls. There were several tall windows between each column, allowing the moonlight to spill into the great hall, which stretched on for at least 40 feet. Looking up, Raven noticed the large, tear-drop chandeliers adorned with crystals that reflected the light, also spaced evenly across the ceiling. There were 5 in total, each casting their glow about the imposing, grand walkway.

Raven, for once, was rendered speechless.

Richard gave a slight chuckle, "Um, this is just the entrance. Come on, there's more to see and dinner to eat."

Raven nodded, but lingered a moment more to examine everything. Eventually, she allowed Richard to take her past the heavy, mahogany doors and into the rest of the mansion. The second room was also extremely extravagant, with two spiral staircases ascending to the second floor.

Each room reminded Raven of an extravagant castle, but she barely had time to look at the details of each room as Robin pulled her to the dining room. Because each room was full of details that assaulted her senses and since she had little time to spend in each room, she really couldn't recall what each room looked like, only that the manor was truly magnificent. Upon reaching the dining room, Raven gave a slight gasp.

The room was golden, literally. The walls were made of a paneled, deep cherry wood. Lining the walls were several paintings in golden frames. The table was, however, made of glass and gold. The high-backed chairs were also made with the same matching materials, with burgundy cloth lining the cushions. The plates also had gold encrusted rims and all of the silverware was actually gold.

Each of the serving dishes lined the long, rectangular table, each filled with savory bits of food. _Wow, Alfred, you've really outdone yourself _thought Richard.

"Wow," exclaimed Raven, unable to really articulate anything else at the moment.

A moment later, Alfred appeared wearing his finest suit and his snow white hair neatly combed back.

"I trust this is sufficient, Richard?" he asked, his thick British accent apparent.

Richard smiled at Alfred, silently thanking him for not saying 'Master Richard'. He was about to reply when Raven beat him to it.

"It looks wonderful, thank-you so much," she gushed. Unsure of what else to do with herself, she gave an awkward, half bow.

Richard chuckled, "Alfred, this is Raven. Raven this is Alfred."

"A pleasure to meet you, miss," began Alfred before directing his attention toward Richard, "Let me know if you need anything else."

Richard nodded, "Thanks."

And Richard really was thankful to have someone like Alfred, who he viewed as more than a butler. Alfred had often been Richard's companion, especially when Bruce was busy, and it was moments like these that Richard wanted to really thank Alfred somehow. But it always occurred to him that he really didn't know exactly _what _Alfred liked, especially since he'd been around the Wayne family for years. Richard didn't know anything about Alfred's family either. Whenever he offered to get anything for Alfred, the butler always politely declined. Richard just hoped Alfred really knew just how grateful he was.

"There's so much food, where do we start?" asked Raven, walking up and down the table, trying to pick a place to sit. Richard watched her in amusement.

"It's not going to go anywhere, you know," he commented playfully.

Raven stuck her tongue out at him and he just laughed. Finally, Raven sat down on the middle chair.

"That's an unusual place to sit, most people want to sit at the head of the table," mused Richard, making his way over to the seat adjacent to Raven.

"Well, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, I'm a bit _odd. _Not to mention, from here I have the best reach to the most food."

He laughed again, "Whatever floats your boat. And I happen to like your oddness."

Raven slightly blushed and quickly turned her attention to the feast before them. She tried to sample everything, but there was too much food and too little of her for that to be possible. Everything she did try, however, was fantastic. She really couldn't pronounce any of the names of what she ate, or tell what they were for that matter, but all she knew was that it was the best meal she'd had in her life, hands down.

Looking at all of the food still cluttering the table surface, Raven groaned. "I feel like I'm wasting so much."

"Not at all, all of this food will be saved so you can take it home and feed it to your siblings. Or so you can do with it what you will."

"Really?" asked Raven, overjoyed to share such a meal with her family.

"Of course," he replied with a grin.

"Wow," muttered Raven, staring at all of the courses.

"So now what are we going to do, Robin?" asked Raven.

"Hmm, I hadn't planned that far in advance," he admitted with a nervous laugh, "Do you want to just watch a movie?"

Raven nodded, "Sure, why not? What movies do you have?"

He grinned, "Basically anything you can think of, so just pick the one thing that comes to mind."

"Uh, what about Howl's Moving Castle?"

He smiled, "Didn't peg you as much of an animated movie type of person."

"I'm not, I just like Hayao Miyazaki's films," she explained, "Plus, I thought it would make for a better date movie than Saw or Wicked Scary."

He nodded, "I guess that's true. I'll be right back."

And with one swift motion, Richard left to find the film Raven requested. Returning about five minutes later, Richard noticed that Raven had fallen asleep on the crescent shaped couch.

Cautiously, Richard walked over to her and gently shook her awake.

"You fell asleep, should I just take you home?" he asked quietly.

Groggily, Raven nodded. However, she made no motion to show that she was getting up anytime soon, so Richard picked her up bridal style and carried her to his black Ferrari. Once in the cold car, Raven woke up, somewhat surprised by her new surroundings.

Richard started the car and sped off toward Raven's home. When he arrived, he, of course, walked her to her door. He meant to give her a quick goodnight kiss, only she didn't pull away for a long while. And well, he saw no point in ruining the moment. After he watched Raven go inside, he turned around and headed home, happiness welling up inside of him. He knew this would be one night he would treasure forever.

* * *

Raven stumbled inside, trying to remain quiet and not wake up her sleeping siblings. Raven made her way to her room and changed into warm pajamas. In the process of changing, she accidentally knocked over her purse, and out spilled _Howl's Moving Castle._

Raven smiled and set the dvd on her desk. Finally she crawled into bed, but found that she no longer could fall asleep. It was then that her mother's favorite quote suddenly popped into her head.

_'You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.'_

Raven smiled to herself, finally understanding the meaning of those words. _Well spoken, Dr. Seuss _she thought.

* * *

**Okay, so I hope that chapter was worth the wait. What did you guys think of it? Was it good? Bad? Let me know in a review, if you have time!**

**This is a bit sad to think about, but just one more chapter to go! Thanks to everyone who's read this story! I promise I'll have the end posted by next Tuesday! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**~RukiaRae**


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